Business Strategy

Adoption of Circular Business Model to Foster Sustainability in the Indian Fashion Industry

Article Details

Pub. Date	: Sep' 2022
Product Name	: The IUP Journal of Business Strategy
Product Type	: Article
Product Code	: IJBS030922
Author Name	: Fauzia Jamal and Vibha Kapoor
Availability	: YES
Subject/Domain	: Strategic Journals
Download Format	: PDF Format
No. of Pages	: 15

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Abstract

Today's global fashion industry is grappling with an exceedingly complex issue of sustainability as it roughly contributes 10% towards the global carbon emissions and 20% of wastewater. The study reveals that the remarkable growth of fast fashion in contemporary times has been continuously responsible for generating excessive volumes of textile waste, evident from the fact that 85% of all textiles are eventually dumped each year. Economic growth, consumption, and globalization can all be vital contributions to the reliance on the linear economy model. The paper primarily focuses on analyzing the key issues that hinder the Indian fashion industry's long-term sustainability. The conceptual foundation of a circular economy rests on the assumption that the earth is a circular or closed system with limited assimilative capacity. The paper reviews the literature on circular economy and circular fashion to understand how a business model develops using circularity and circular fashion. Finally, the paper explores and analyzes the role, key constraints and feasibility of the circular business model in fostering sustainability in the Indian fashion industry.

Introduction

Sustainable development has become an issue of imminent concern for contemporary society. The nexus between human activities, environmental problems and concern for the entire ecosystem has remained an inherent part of human development and society since time immemorial. However, factors such as climate change, deterioration of conditions of environment in different parts of the world and their implications on the sustainability of the planet have created heightened need for sustainable development (Duran et al., 2015). The idea of sustainable development principally hinges on meeting the needs of present generations without compromising the needs of the future generation (Skawinska and Zalewski, 2018). However, activities in the value chain of the fashion industry have continued to pose imminent threats to sustainability of the environment. Today, the fashion industry is recognized as one of the most polluting industries. According to the United Nations Environment Program, the fashion industry is responsible for approximately 10% of the global CO2 output. The industry is also responsible for almost 20% of plastic output globally (Dottle and Gu, 2022). Importantly, the resource intensiveness of the fashion industry is